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Battlefields: Exploring the Arenas of War, 1805-1945
Battlefields: Exploring the Arenas of War, 1805-1945
Battlefields: Exploring the Arenas of War, 1805-1945
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Battlefields: Exploring the Arenas of War, 1805-1945

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This book is a salute to the skill and bravery demonstrated on 22 of the world's most famous battlegrounds, offering exciting accounts of key phases in the battles that focus on the influence and usage of the terrain. It is illustrated with historic photographs and extremely detailed mapping showing the positions and movements of the fighting forces. For six of the most impressive battles, the book features stunning 3-D maps which focus on pivotal moments in the action. These maps combine artwork and advanced software applications, making use of detailed topographical information, light and weather conditions, to create authentic representations of the action on the day. In addition, there will be information on what you can see on a visit to the sites today, and contact details for tour companies and battle parks. The list of battles was compiled by studying a variety of sources on what are regarded as key battles in the period 1805 to 1945, in consultation with Michael Rayner of the Battlefields Trust and specialist military authors. The chosen battlefields are all served by battlefield tour companies, or cater for self-guided tours, and in each case still feature much of interest to see today. The final consideration was whether the sites are safe to visit. These final two considerations have ruled out most post-1945 sites, hence the period covered spans the eventful 150 years from 1805 to 1945.

LanguageEnglish
Release dateJun 8, 2016
ISBN9781607653547
Battlefields: Exploring the Arenas of War, 1805-1945

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  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    A great table top book that details 22 battles. Each has a few pages, with a list of characters and a detailed map of the battle. Some quite interesting details, even if I did find some of it confusing, maybe that simply highlights the confusion of battle.

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Battlefields - Michael Rayner

Copenhagen.

Gettysburg National Military Park – view looking west across the northern face of Cemetery Hill, with the equestrian statue of Major General Winfield Scott Hancock, who helped to secure this hill on the evening of Day 1. Cemet ery Hill was a potential hinge in the Union lines, and was grimly clung to by Meade’s army throughout the fighting.

INTRODUCTION

By Michael Rayner

Battlefields have long held a fascination for those who survived the conflicts and for those of later generations. Motives for visiting these sites, rather than merely reading about them, are many and varied, which remains the case for the modern battlefield tourist. For many in the past and present the main reason is for commemoration and remembrance, which helps to account for the large number of memorials and other monuments on battlefields. These can range from ancient trophies dedicated to the gods to a modern plaque put up by a regimental association. For many, the overriding reason to visit is the desire to improve understanding of the events which took place on the ‘haunted acres’ of the battlefield. Generals and military theorists have always understood the importance of the ground upon which a battle is fought, with the Roman writer Vegetius informing his audience that ‘a large part of a victory depends on the actual place in which the battle is fought’. A visit to this ground is therefore essential for the military historian, so much so that many would hesitate if not always refrain from writing about a battle without visiting its site. This is because the battlefield is a historical source demanding attention, interpretation and understanding like any written or other account. To understand a battle, one has to understand the battlefield. To do this, the nature of the historic landscape first needs comprehension, by stripping away the post-battle layers of development and land-use to return to the battlefield as it was at the time of the action. Naturally, much of this work must be carried out through consulting historic maps and other records as well as through landscape archaeology and geology. However, a site visit will help to support or refute ideas from the written and pictorial record.

Misconceptions about a battlefield, and therefore the battle, often occur, with a good example being the nature of ‘Wellington’s’ ridge at Waterloo. This is depicted in numerous paintings of the battle and described in many accounts, but when these are compared with one’s own observations it soon becomes clear whether the writer or artist has actually visited the site. The ridge is often shown as too high or too steep, whereas it is a relatively gentle incline of no great height, which in many ways makes it such an outstanding choice as the main feature of Wellington’s position. A visit will make this clear, but much more must be factored in: understanding how the construction of the Lion Mound has altered the ground; knowing which buildings were there at the time; how the field boundaries have changed; and how the roads and tracks have changed in their course and nature. The visit will also help with improving knowledge of the soil type and conditions, which had such an impact on 18 June 1815, as well as seeing where hedges, trees and woods had stood, which in turn help with understanding lines of sight and dead ground. Such features can influence any visit of any battlefield and, when coupled with other natural factors such as the time of year at which the battle was fought and the weather conditions that prevailed at the time, can add further to one’s appreciation of the battle and the commanders’ and armies’ actions.

This book focuses on a number of battles dating from the last two centuries that are worth a visit today. Although mainly featuring fighting on land, Pearl Harbor is included, while Arnhem also has an airborne dimension. Visits and tours can be of a personal nature, but all the battlefields featured here are also serviced by commercial tour operators. Therefore, all are safe to visit and have some facilities in terms of interpretation, presentation and comfort for the modern visitor. Battlefield tourism is a growth industry, which has encouraged the development of facilities and better on-site interpretation at many of these and other battlefields. Comparative visits to the Somme battlefield in 1980 and in 2005 would have revealed substantial progress in improving the experience for those visiting. At the earlier date even basic visitor facilities were hard to find, while in 2005 sensitively planned, modern facilities and interpretation have been provided at Newfoundland Memorial Park and Thiepval, while others such as at Delville Wood have been upgraded. The increase in visitor numbers has helped lead to these improvements, but there is a cost in terms of pressure on the often narrow roads and the sites themselves. For example, at Newfoundland Memorial Park, visitors may no longer roam across ‘no-man’s-land’ at will, since the resulting erosion would destroy the very site the visitors wish to see. However, it is surely through the increasing popularity of battlefield sites as tourist and school party destinations that will help to ensure their preservation. In an ideal world these sites would be preserved for their historic significance, but sadly economic pressures frequently gain the upper hand, with the result that many battlefields have been lost or damaged. However, by proving the commercial value of battlefields, local and national authorities are more likely to uphold the preservation of the battlefield, instead allowing it to disappear under tarmac or housing. It is to be hoped that governments will acknowledge the historic importance of these sites, and do more to preserve battlefields and their archaeology.

The impressively massive Thiepval Memorial to the missing of the Somme, designed by Lutyens and listing over 73,000 British and South African soldiers who have no known grave. The adjacent cemetery has 300 French and 300 British graves.

The reader will be pleased to know that the authors assembled to write each chapter are experts in and on their fields. All have indepth personal knowledge of the sites, gained through research and personal visits to the sites. Many of the writers have also conducted tours of the battlefields they cover, with the result that the entries contain helpful visitor hints and insights of the terrain. With the good quality and range of mapping and illustrations the volume has much that can be enjoyed at home, with the book being a likely companion through the gloomier winter months, perhaps inspiring the reader to sally forth in the spring or summer to visit at least some of these fascinating and significant sites of what Winston Churchill termed the ‘punctuation marks of history’.

Colour lithograph by Sullivan. The symbolic fall of Napoleon at the Battle of Waterloo, as the Eagle of the French 45th Line Infantry is taken by Sergeant Ewart of the Scots Greys.

By Michael Rayner

The Napoleonic Wars is the name given to the period of warfare primarily between France, Great Britain, Prussia, Russia and Austria from 1804 – when Napoleon Bonaparte became emperor of France – to 1815 when the war finished at the end of the Campaign of the Hundred Days. Some writers would start the period with Napoleon becoming First Consul of France in 1799. In addition, the Napoleonic Wars were an extension of the French Revolutionary Wars, begun in 1792 and continuing throughout the remainder of the 1790s. In many ways this period of virtually unrelenting warfare can be seen as a world war, 100 years before the start of the more widely recognized World War I. Fighting against France and her sister republics, satellite states and allies was widespread, not only across the entire continent of Europe, but into the Middle East and the Indian subcontinent. The war of 1812 between Britain and the USA is also directly related to the conflict with Napoleon, while naval warfare took place around the globe.

The wars follow a pattern of rise and fall, with Napoleon scoring a string of brilliant victories against the armies of the opposing coalition powers, before experiencing a general decline and defeats for his armies until his final downfall at Waterloo. Throughout the period Napoleon was unable to make headway against British naval power, especially after the battle of Trafalgar (1805). On land his early successes were due in large part to the superiority of his armies, fighting in a more flexible way to that of his enemies and with greater vigour, thanks to changes in warfare during the 1790s. Napoleon’s generalship also played a part in this success, although writers disagree as to the extent of this as a key factor, some preferring to single out the weaknesses of the allied generals and their armies -- or even Napoleon’s good luck. Whatever the causes, his armies won a series of stunning victories: at Austerlitz against the Austrians and Russians in 1805; at Jena and Auerstädt against Prussia in 1806; versus Russia at Friedland in 1807; against Austria at Wagram in 1809.

The armies of the coalition had started to reorganize their forces and tactics on the French model by 1809, leading to harder won victories for Napoleon. He overreached himself after deciding to invade Portugal in 1807 and then imposing French rule on Spain in 1808, events which led to the Peninsular War. Part of the reason for this was to impose his Continental System of trade embargoes against Britain, which later led to his disastrous invasion of Russia in 1812. In the Peninsular War, Britain was able to gain a foothold for her army in Europe, fighting alongside Portuguese and Spanish forces, leading to a string of victories in the field for General Arthur Wellesley (the Duke of Wellington), including those at Talavera, Salamanca and Vittoria.

Despite these setbacks for his forces, Napoleon invaded Russia in 1812, leading to the hard-fought battle of Borodino and the capture of Moscow, before a catastrophic retreat. Following this disaster, the coalition opposing him strengthened, acting in a more coordinated way than before, leading to the Battle of Leipzig, or the Battle of the Nations, in 1813. A defensive campaign in France could not prevent defeat and abdication for Napoleon. Exiled to Elba in the Mediterranean in May 1814, he escaped in February 1815 to become emperor once more. This led to the Campaign of the Hundred Days and his ultimate defeat at Waterloo, bringing to an end not only his rule, but an era.

Mack, the most effective of the Austrian generals, offers his sword to Napoleon in surrender. Returning the sword, Napoleon sought to console him with the words ‘All empires come to an end.’

AUSTERLITZ 1805

By Michael Hannon

The Peace of Amiens was no more than a temporary truce, and resumption of the war was inevitable. Following the coronation of Napoleon as Emperor of the French on 2 December 1804, the British Prime Minister, William Pitt, successfully organized the third allied coalition (see panel opposite for background).

Austria and Russia began another attempt to restore the situation to that of 1789 and Napoleon realized that the invasion plan would have to be shelved for the time being. Striking camp at Boulogne on 23 August, the Grande Armée was on the Rhine a month later. Never before had such a force been assembled and moved with such speed and precision. French organization and staff work was impeccable, and the standard of training of the rank and file was far superior to that of any enemy. It was organized in seven army corps, totalling nearly 220,000 men, including 30,000 cavalry and nearly 400 guns.

As so often among allies, the enemy suffered from confusion, not least because Russia was still using the Julian calendar, so a difference of ten days between dates went unnoticed until vital deadlines were missed. The Russian army of General Kutuzov arrived on the River Inn ten days after it was expected by the Austrians. Furthermore, they were not entirely agreed on priorities; the Austrians wanted the main effort in Northern Italy; the British urged for it to be in central Germany, with a view to involving Prussia; Russia was mistrusted by both for its designs on Poland and preoccupation with the Turks, and was anyway very slow to mobilize.

Austria and Russia were each to provide three armies, none of them in a very high state of training. The nominal Austrian commanders were three of the brothers of the Emperor Francis II, who himself was commander in chief. The Archduke Charles had the army in Italy, John was in the Tyrol and Ferdinand (with General Karl Mack at his elbow) in Bavaria. The Russian commanders were Kutuzov, Buxhöwden and Bennigsen. Kutuzov was advancing slowly through Moravia. Duke Feodor Feodorovich (Friedrich Wilhelm) Buxhöwden and Bennigsen, both waited for permission from Prussia to move across Silesia.

The Grande Armée crossed the Rhine on 25 September, and, by mid-October, most of Archduke Ferdinand’s army was surrounded at Ulm. Ferdinand himself deserted General Mack, who was thus obliged to surrender on 20 October. The French took between 50,000 and 60,000 prisoners, who marched out of the town the following day. As they did so, Lord Nelson was destroying the combined fleets of France and Spain off Cape Trafalgar. The Shark was now supreme on the oceans; the Tiger was about to demonstrate invincibility on land.

THE TIGER AND THE SHARK

During the first few years of the French Revolution, 1789–92, the other four powers were more or less content with events in France. Great Britain foresaw an opportunity to enlarge her empire at the expense of her long-standing enemy, and the others (Austria, Russia and Prussia) were more concerned with acquiring as large a share as possible of Poland. But it soon became apparent that the French were determined to export their revolutionary principles to all of Europe, if not the world; so war was inevitable.

Between 1792 and 1799 France established control of most of the European mainland, but surrendered control of the seas to Britain’s Royal Navy. The destruction of the French fleet at the Battle of the Nile in August 1798 was the thin end of the wedge that would eventually crush Napoleon’s Empire. By the time the Peace of Amiens was signed in March 1802, the situation was that of ’the Tiger and the Shark’: Britain had a navy but no available army due to operations in India; France had a vastly superior army. Neither was capable of inflicting much damage on the other. Britain therefore needed to hire some help to maintain the balance of power and had resorted to subsidizing the armies of Austria and Russia.

Napoleon, established as First Consul of France in February 1800, appreciated that to achieve his objective of European hegemony he must, sooner or later, eliminate England from the equation. He planned an invasion, and the Grande Armée of some 220,000 men was concentrated at Boulogne. Training was rigorous, discipline strict, and morale high. Furthermore, the army was now organized into corps of two or more divisions, each having its own dedicated staff officers, and its own infantry regiments, cavalry, artillery and wagon trains. It was this combination of training, morale, mutually supporting arms and organization which was to win the Battle of Austerlitz.

Learning of the disaster at Ulm, Kutuzov, whose army had at last reached the River Inn, decided to withdraw eastward along the Danube. He was fortunate to cross unopposed to the north bank on 10 November, and then was narrowly denied an opportunity to destroy the French VIII Corps at Dürnstein. The French entered Vienna on 13 November, and successfully bluffed their way across the one remaining bridge to the north bank. A rearguard action by General Bagration ensured the smooth withdrawal of Kutuzov’s force and concentration of the allied armies in the area of Olmutz.

Following his successful counterattack against the Russian Imperial Guard, General Rapp, one of Napoleon’s aides-de-camp, presents his prisoners, among whom is the commander of the Tsar’s personal guard, Prince Repnin.

Napoleon spent a few days at the Palace of Schönbrunn, just outside Vienna, where his quartermasters were helping themselves to the contents of the enormous arsenal, before heading north to join the advance guard on 17 November. Yet another arsenal fell into his hands when Brünn, or Brnõ, was captured on the 18th. The next few days were spent resting and re-organizing. Napoleon certainly realized the risk he was taking with a long line of communication requiring substantial detachments. Away to the northwest, the few of Archduke Ferdinand’s forces to escape from Ulm were being watched by the Corps of Marshal Bernadotte; and the city of Vienna was secured by the III Corps of Marshal Davout.

MAIN CHARACTERS FEATURED

OPPOSING NAPOLEON

Alexander I, Tsar of Russia

Francis II, Holy Roman Emperor and Emperor of Austria

General Mikhail Illarionovitch Kutuzov

General Mack, Baron Karl Mack von Leiberich

General Peter Bagration

Prince Repnin (Tsar’s personal guard)

General Feodor Buxhöwden

General Levin August Bennigsen

GRANDE ARMÉE

Marshal Jean Lannes (V Corps)

Marshal Jean-Baptiste Jules Bernadotte (I Corps)

Marshal Louis Nicolas Davout (III Corps)

General Anne Jean Marie René Savary

Marshal Nicolas-Jean de Dieu Soult (IV Corps)

Marshal Joachim Murat (reserve cavalry)

General Dominique Joseph René Vandamme

General Louis Vincent St Hilaire

General Nicolas Charles Oudinot (Grenadiers)

General Legrand

Marshal Jean-Baptiste Bessières (Imperial Guard)

General Jean Rapp

Tsar Alexander I

Marshal Jean-Baptiste Bessières

ALLIED MISJUDGEMENT

The allied staff had also noted the risk Napoleon was running, concluding, wrongly, that the French were in an increasingly weak position. In fact, of course, Napoleon was planning the concentration necessary for the coming battle. To help assess the enemy strength he sent General Savary to the allied camp with the offer of negotiations. This reinforced the belief of the younger staff in French weakness, although the experienced Kutuzov advised further withdrawal, suggesting that Napoleon would not dare to extend his line of communication even more.

The weather was foul and, unlike the French, whose men were well fed and enthusiastic, the Allies were suffering from the cold and lack of supplies. Having overruled Kutuzov’s advice, Alexander and Francis had no alternative but to advance, with a view to cutting Napoleon’s communication with Vienna. On 28 November Marshal Soult’s advance guard was attacked just east of the village of Austerlitz and, following Napoleon’s orders, fell back to a position west of the Goldbach (golden brook). This withdrawal finally convinced the inexperienced allied staff that the French were trying to avoid a battle, and the Tsar ordered the occupation of the high ground around the village of Pratzen. In fact, Napoleon’s preparations were going smoothly. The Santon hill was fortified with trenches and a battery of eight guns, and orders had been despatched to Bernadotte and Davout to join the rest of the army by forced marching. Appreciating the allied intention, Napoleon relied on Davout’s III Corps to hold the right at all costs.

Allied staff work was very poor, resulting in a chaotic attempt to deploy during the night of 1 December. It is said that the allied commanders took a very casual attitude to the situation, only a few of them bothering to review the plan on the map. Written orders were despatched very late, some not arriving until after the battle began shortly before dawn on 2 December.

NAPOLEON’S PLAN

Napoleon’s initial appreciation was that the Allies would attack at Kobelnitz, but during the night the sounds of movements convinced him that they would actually go further south towards Telnitz and Sokolnitz. This suited him well for, provided Davout could frustrate their attempt to cut him off from Vienna, they would be encouraged to reinforce their left wing by withdrawing troops from the centre. The allied right, under General Bagration, would be held by the Santon position and the V Corps of Marshal Lannes, supported by Murat’s reserve cavalry and Bernadotte’s corps. Once the enemy centre was weakened, his main counterattack would be made by IV Corps in the centre, under Marshal Soult, with the divisions of St Hilaire and Vandamme. The Imperial Guard and Oudinot’s Grenadiers would form a strong reserve.

Napoleon met Emperor Francis II of Austria on 4 December and agreed an armistice, embodied in the harsh terms of the Treaty of Pressburg, which was signed on 26 December 1805.

At first the allied attacks were successful at both Telnitz and Sokolnitz, but staff and command failures denied them consolidation and General Legrand’s division was able to hold the situation. A thick mist hid Soult’s other two divisions behind the Goldbach from allied observation. It was cold, but there was a slight thaw. Hail and rain had made the night miserable for everyone, further undermining allied morale. Sunrise, at 08:00, revealed large numbers of Russian troops moving southward across the centre of the battlefield. Napoleon asked Soult for his estimate of the time it would

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